This article is written by Olivia Coughtrie, Director at Oriel Partners PA Recruitment
Virtual assistants, VAs, play an essential role in business. A virtual assistant is a contractor or employee who performs administrative duties to clients while operating outside the client’s office. A virtual assistant has access to the necessary planning documents, such as calendars, while away from the office. Virtual assistants have become popular due to technological advancements and the increased use of the internet for conducting business. One of the primary qualifications of becoming a virtual assistant is expertise in internet-related activities. Virtual assistants with adequate experience in digital marketing are essential in business. Their content management skills are useful in running digital marketing campaigns for companies.
4 examples of how VAs can streamline digital marketing activities:
Maximising efficiency
Hiring a virtual assistant for digital marketing increases your efficiency as a business owner. Instead of spending too much time creating content for marketing purposes, you will have more time to focus on the money-making part of the business. Digital marketing virtual assistants ensure consistency in handling the marketing side of the business. Therefore, the presence of competent virtual assistants guarantees you market growth and efficient service delivery at the same time.
Reduces digital marketing costs
Marketing can be quite costly, especially for start-up companies. Digital marketing virtual assistants tend to eliminate the extra costs of hiring permanent employees. With VAs, you save the amount spent on renting office space or creating a working environment for them. Most virtual assistants have adequate knowledge of what is required for the job. Therefore, you will spend much less on training them to work as per your company goals.
The cost of paying virtual assistants is lower than paying full time employees. Most virtual assistants charge for services per hour. The hourly rates mean you only pay them for the work done. In some cases, you might find virtual assistants from countries that demand a lower minimum wage. Therefore, hiring a virtual assistant is one of the best ways to reduce your marketing costs.
Boosts social media presence
With the current world, social media is one of the biggest marketing trends. Having a virtual assistant with adequate experience in creating social media content is very important. The virtual assistant will engage with both potential and regular clients on social media. Social media engagement boosts your company presence and increases your market base online. An excellent virtual assistant should create captivating adverts for social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram.
Content creation
Captivating content creation is one of the key ways to streamline your marketing strategy. A digital marketing virtual assistant should come up with engaging promotional content that will draw attention to your product. This type of content is likely to spark conversations if put on social media platforms. These conversations play an essential role in increasing the popularity of your product in the online market. The need for content creation is what makes creative thinking and knowledge of graphic design an essential qualification for becoming a virtual assistant.
How to find talented virtual assistants
Although virtual assistants are essential, you can only receive good results if you hire the best. Here are some of the most common ways to get the best virtual assistant for your company.
Hiring through a virtual assistant agency
If it is your first time working with a virtual assistant, you should hire one through a reputable agency. Virtual assistant agencies assure quality work and make it easier to follow up in case of a problem. Virtual assistant agencies, such as, Oriel Partners provide trained and approved virtual assistants for hire.
Hiring an individual virtual assistant
Hiring an individual virtual assistant is suitable if you have worked with a virtual assistant before. Prior experience with a virtual worker places you at a better place to know the qualities of an excellent virtual assistant that you are looking for. You can find individual virtual assistants on freelancer platforms such as Upwork and Fiverr. Unlike virtual assistant agencies, freelancer platforms do not offer a replacement or additional support in case you fall out with your virtual assistant.
About the Author
Olivia Coughtrie is Co-founder & Director at Oriel Partners a PA and administrative recruitment consultancy based in Central London. Olivia is passionate about making a positive change to the recruitment process.
